County commissioners tackling '09 budget

Amid proposed pay raises and other spending requests, fuel prices won't be far from the discussion as Taylor County commissioners work on the 2009 fiscal year budget this week.

Beginning with the first item of the day Monday, the topic of gas prices lingered around the conversation.

"That increased fuel cost will be a recurring thing," Precinct 4 Commissioner Chuck Statler said. "It not only affects us and most of government, but also affects every household."

Not far from last year's numbers, the county's revenues for the upcoming year are about $31 million in the general fund and about $3.5 million in the road and bridge fund. The proposed budget items are $1.7 million more than this year's budget for the general fund and $114,609 more in the road and bridge fund.

County Judge George Newman said three topics will influence the budget the most in discussions this week.

"We're going to try to meet the increased costs of the petroleum-related items, we're going to try and do something about salaries, and we're going to continue our renovations (at the courthouse)," Newman said.

Some aspects of the budget are more difficult to project than others, Newman said.

For example, paving a road, which includes petroleum products, used to be done by getting a contract a year in advance. Now, the county must pay as it needs the service because of the fluctuating petroleum prices.

The county is also trying to build in a salary increase for its employees of 3 percent, which Newman and other commissioners acknowledged as being low.

"We've got to do something about our salaries, and until we get through this first phase and see where we are with our budget, it kinda dictates what we can do for salaries," Newman said. "We are already dealing with a 3 percent increase, but we hope we can do better than that when we get down to it."

The tax rate could be hiked some in response to the higher petroleum prices, Newman said.

But after just one day, enough is not currently known to determine whether taxes will be raised. The tax rate is 47.07 cents per $100 of assessed value.

"We were very fortunate last year; we were able to drop our tax rates," Newman said.

"It hits everybody, so hopefully we're gonna be able to do something significantly better. Maybe over a two-year period."

The county's budget hearing process focuses on individual department proposals and continues through Thursday. Newman said a "bona fide budget for the fiscal year of 2009" should be completed by the middle of September.